Tag Archives: a spy for christmas

(Audible offers a free app for listening to audiobooks, and you can get a free audiobook by signing up for their trial membership.)

Later this spring, The River People will also have an audiobook!

***

.

I’ve had my head buried in my latest writing project, Point Hope, and I wanted to share the cover with you. Coming this spring!

The mighty Pacific has a rugged, rough, unforgiving beauty—like Trey’s life.

Trey and Rosette Sinclair were once in love. Now they both feel hurt and unwanted. Their marriage is on its last legs when their family is faced with two deaths and an orphan. They’re already raising two young children and Trey’s teenage brother Alex.

After an IED brought his Navy career to an end, Trey became an EMT in his hometown of Coos Bay, Oregon. He struggles with PTSD, which affects his ability to do his job and connect with his family again. His wife seems to be living life without him.

Rosette is the mother hen and friend to all. She can’t figure out what happened to her marriage, or to Trey—the man she once so desperately loved. It feels like she’ll lose everything along with him. Meanwhile he’s enclosed in his own world without her.

Trey and Rosette make a shaky agreement: to play “family” for now so they can take care of Trey’s recently orphaned niece. But can faking it ever be enough?

It’s make-it or break-it time. If they split apart, who will raise Hope?

***

Many of my reviews praise my ‘real characters with real problems’ and this story delivers more romantic and family drama. I’m so excited about this complex storyline and characters with their secrets and flaws. Watch for a preview as we near March!

What’s more dangerous? The Oregon wilderness? Hit men?
Or the heat in Grayson’s arms?

Robin is flying back into the misty Pacific Northwest for Christmas, which is a bit fitting after her last so-so relationship ended. Alex just wasn’t the right man for her. Things look up when Grayson sits next to her on the plane—he’s hot, charming, witty and very into her. Unfortunately their chance meeting puts her in danger, and suddenly Robin is trapped into spending the holiday with this charming, mysterious man at a secluded mountain cabin.

He vows to protect her with his own life if needed, but the danger isn’t just from the men tracking them down. Robin isn’t sure she can trust Grayson, and yet she’s pulled to his magnetism. Safety is quickly losing the battle to desire…

A Spy for Christmas…. Chapter One

Robin Holliday watched the pristine blue Pacific Ocean fade away under the clouds through the plane window as they flew out of Honolulu. She was flying home to Portland, Oregon, for a cold and snowy Christmas. To tell the truth, the foggy weather in the Pacific Northwest seemed better suited for the holiday. At least this year.

Spending a week in the sun, sand and ocean had taken her mind off things, which had been clear until takeoff today. Actually, it had been fun to visit with people from all over the world, drink fruity drinks and eat shrimp to her heart’s content. Her ex, Alex, was allergic to any and all seafood so she’d given up for favorite fare for the last four years. Not anymore!

Her seatmate, a petite teenager with multicolored hair, leaned toward the window and sighed. “I miss it already. I just spent two weeks for my honeymoon.”

The girl—Arianna, now Mrs. Berkley—kept talking while Robin took in that statement. It seemed strange that a woman would return from her honeymoon alone, but she really didn’t want to discuss anything wedding related. Robin was the one who sighed this time.

“I know, right?” Arianna almost giggled.

“Excuse me.” A man—an extremely sexy man—leaned down toward the girl with a dashing smile on his strong face. “Your husband told me you were back here by yourself, so… I said I would trade seats. I can’t let you two be apart on Christmas.”

For a second, both women stared up at him in silence. A radiance in his eyes drew Robin in; even more than his rugged, strong features. Well, okay, she could stare a while at those brown eyes and that mouth…

“Oh, thank you! And Merry Christmas!” Arianna gushed, then threw her arms right around his neck, but quickly released him to grab her bag from the overhead. She hurried off with a little finger-wiggle wave and grin.

The man offered Robin a tentative smile and yet still appeared confident. “I hope you don’t mind.” His voice was deep, but not too deep, and very soothing.

She shook her head. “Of course not.” She didn’t mind at all, and wouldn’t mind having a few fantasies about his full lips, either. The problem would arise if he figured out what she was thinking about. Duh, every woman watching right now was thinking the same thing!

He sat down and smiled at her, extending a hand. “Grayson.”

“I like your name.” She shook his hand, pleasantly surprised at his manners. “I’m Robin. That really was nice of you.” He was leaning toward her so she could see specks of hazel, yellow and red in his dark brown eyes.

“It wasn’t much…but can you imagine not getting a seat with your new spouse? On Christmas Day no less?” He settled in and added, “I bet you get a ton of compliments on your hair.”

She glanced over to find him tracing his eyes down her red locks. For some reason, it made her blush like a school girl. “I bet the same is true for your eyes.”

Oh. My. Word. Was she flirting? The heat in her cheeks grew worse as his smile grew broader. The direct flight from Honolulu to Portland was at least five hours. How was she going to handle sitting next to him all that time?

“So, Robin,” he started, leaning even closer as if they were discussing juicy gossip. “Do you have a boyfriend, fiancé or significant other somewhere on this plane too?”

The blatant question took her off guard. She willed herself to breathe and raised a shoulder while giving a playful shake of her head.

His eyebrows rose in what she took for surprised pleasure. His smile tilted up on one side. “So, you’re the teasing type.”

“Well, I could use some practice,” she admitted. Luckily, the words came out sounding a little bit daring instead of embarrassing, as she feared.

His eyes narrowed a bit in curiosity, but they also held a knowing look. “You were on one of those get-your-mojo-back kind of trips.”

She halfway expected him to nod and lean back in his seat, ready to ignore her, but he didn’t. Grayson titled his head and kept his gaze on her face, waiting for her answer. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“So Mr. All Wrong was either incredibly stupid, a jerk—

She shook her head sadly. “He wasn’t a bad boyfriend, for the most part. I’ll give him that, but he wasn’t interested in moving our relationship forward, either. When he said he was happy with the way things were, I realized I wasn’t.” That had been the wake up call. After waiting for him to propose for a year, she learned he “wasn’t into marriage.”

“You wanted more,” Grayson said.

“Yes!” Like passion, excitement, shared dreams. Suddenly, she wondered why she was sharing all this with a stranger. It was as if her thoughts wanted to pour out on their own accord. Grayson put her completely at ease with his smile, charm and thoughtfulness.

She felt so at ease, in fact, that she openly asked, “What about you? Are you hiding from someone?”

That made him laugh, and she immediately liked the dimple in his right cheek. “Hiding from someone? Hmm, that’s a telling comment about relationships.”

“Oh, you’re secretive, aren’t you?” she prodded, trying not to smile but failing. “Maybe you have a girlfriend who is now stuck sitting with the newlyweds.”

He laughed too and then rested his elbow on the armrest so he could lean on it, bringing him even closer. “I’ve been traveling all over for work, but this is my last trip. Last work trip, that is.” He spoke slowly, considering his words. Instinctively, Robin knew there had to be quite a bit more behind that story.

“Downsizing?” she asked.

“Oh, no, I put in my resignation so I can move on to something else.” After a pause he smiled and added, “And now I can figure out what that something else is.”

He let his gaze fall over her face, the way water slides down a naked body in the rain. She really had to fight her smile now. “You must be a risk taker.”

“Aren’t we all?” Excitement warmed his voice. “Here we are in a big, metal bin a few miles up in the air. We take risks every day. I just pick my risks and decide what I want.”

His gaze did that thing again as he said what I want. Her body temperature was quickly reaching dangerous levels, from attraction and his contagious fervor for life.

Savanna Thompson knows what it’s like when you blink and your life shatters. She’s been hiding her divorce from her best friend Cassie, but she knows she can’t any longer. Cassie’s husband, a firefighter, just died. Savanna rushes home, along with her one-year-old daughter to help, and now she’s staying with Cassie in a nursery meant for a baby that won’t ever exist. Cassie lost that dream along with her husband.

Savanna wants to fix their relationship after hiding so much, but it’s complicated with Jason around. He’s the firefighter who saved Savanna’s life two and a half years ago. He just lost his best friend, and like Cassie, he blames himself for Mike’s death. When he convinced Mike to remain with the department, how could he know Mike would die fighting a house fire?

Though hurting herself, something deep inside her won’t let her walk away. Jason needs her but she’s off limits on so many levels. She’s falling for this sexy firefighter but he confuses her to no end. Being stuck in the middle is enough stress, plus her own problems are festering behind her helping smile. Can Savanna find the balance between loving Jason, helping Cassie, and taking care of herself and her daughter? Or is she going to lose this bet and her best friend?

Cassie escapes to Ocean View Stables on the Oregon Coast to cope with the three year anniversary of her husband’s death. She’s starting to dream about her future again and possibly romance. A safe romance, that is, where people don’t die. Maybe her trusty next door neighbor Brandon would be a safe bet. But once at Ocean View, she runs into Ethan Caldwell, the cute boy who teased her through grade school. He sure grew up – into a man who’d catch anyone’s eyes. The romantic man has a song for every emotion. He’s a single dad to nine year old Isabel, who talks about her parents getting back together…as soon as her mom is out of rehab. Then maybe her mom can watch her while her dad goes on his work trips. Apparently Ethan has some kind of dangerous, secretive government job. This isn’t at all what Cassie is looking for! So why is she running full speed into another broken heart?

Sneak Peek:

“Want to go swimming?” he asked.

She was busy thinking and thought she misunderstood him, but the expectant smile on his face told her otherwise. “Right now?”

He got up and stuck out a hand. Before she could think the situation over, or create a good reason to say no, he had grabbed her hand and was pulling her toward the river, looking back once to grin mischievously. “We’re being sneaky!”

“I’m not wearing…” a swimsuit. “Same old Ethan!” He’d always been a dare devil.

He let go of her hand to pull off his shirt. The moonlight silhouetted his body as he walked closer to the water, his shorts dropping. Either he hadn’t been wearing underwear or he dropped them with his shorts. It was nothing but skin. She looked away, pretending she didn’t just see his naked body…his very toned, naked body.

“I can show you the world…” he sang as he walked toward the water. “Take you wonder by wonder…”

Was that from the movie Aladdin? She giggled. She couldn’t help it; she giggled like a little school girl.

“Over, sideways and under…”

Could he possibly be thinking the same things she was? This man was not like those other guys, the ones who wanted to sit in a restaurant and ask her about life plans.

“I won’t look,” he said, wading in, with a hint of repressed laughter.

And my other November Release is…

Robin is returning from Honolulu where she was nursing her wounds. Her long time boyfriend just wasn’t the man for her, and now she’ll be spending Christmas alone. Everything changes when she meets Grayson… and a world of danger. Suddenly she finds herself forced into hiding for the holidays with this charming, mysterious man.

What’s more dangerous? The Oregon wilderness? Hit men? Or the heat in Grayson’s arms?